More about Ahmad Tarakji

Dr. Ahmad Tarakji is the President of the Syrian American Medical Society, a non-profit, non-political, professional and medical relief organization that provides medical education and medical relief in 9 countries.

In 2017, SAMS treated more than 3 million patients inside Syria and 500,000 refugees through its network of 200 medical facilities, 2800 healthcare workers, and 1500 members in the United States and Europe.

At SAMS, Dr.Tarakji spearheads and participates in numerous initiatives including partnerships with UN agencies, international agencies, and NGOs. These initiatives include the Whole of Syria (WoS) humanitarian response plan, emergency and midterm response plans in Syria, and the refugee response plans in the region.

SAMS orchestrated the humanitarian response plan for many humanitarian crises in Syria, including starvation in Madaya, besiegement of Aleppo and Ghouta, chemical attacks in Syria such as the attack in Khan Sheikhon, and the medical evacuation and hospitals protection initiatives in Syria. SAMS responded to additional humanitarian crisis like Rohingya and Puerto Rico.

Dr.Tarakji lead the Syria session at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, testified before the members of the US Congress in 2016, testified before UN member states in 2017 during UN General Assembly event on UNSC resolution 2286, and testified before the UN Security Council members during an Aria session in March 2018 on UNSC resolution 2401.

He is a cardiothoracic surgeon in California and a former clinical assistant professor at Stanford University.

Dr. Tarakji also leads SAMS partnerships with universities in the U.S. and Europe to establish education programs for Syria. He joined Lancet Medical Journal as a commissioner on Syria to produce scientific reviews to assess the humanitarian response and resilience projects. He published op-ed articles at Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox, Huffington Post, The Independent, and News Deeply. Dr.Tarakji was a guest speaker at Harvard University, Yale University, Cambridge University, University of California, and Stanford University.

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